Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

Game 2 of the World Series

Ouch — J.D. Drew just got drilled. But he’s OK. He appeared to get hit on the shin or ankle, but he shook it off.

What a game of inches this really is. Ortiz belts one just foul around the wrong side of Pesky’s Pole. Otherwise, he has himself a three-run homer. An inning later, Lugo misses a two-run double by about a foot.

It’s great that we’re getting a competitive game tonight. Game 1 was a snoozer.

Everything still tells me this series is going 6 or 7. The Rockies are going to be tough at home.

Tito really wants to play David all three games in Colorado, so I would assume Lowell will play two out there and Youk will probably play one at third.

James Taylor did a great anthem. Steven Tyler awaits if this series gets back here for a Game 6 or 7.

Kudos to Oki for another rock solid relief effort. Remember back in September when the brownie points crew was ready to send him home for the season? Even more credit to Tito, then, for keeping his staff healthy.

Great job by Schill(did anyone think he was feeling kind of sentimental as he walked off the field?) Oki was HUGE. He threw maybe 2 pitches out of the strikezone? Papelbon, you just can’t say enogh. And of course, Mikey with the game winner.

This was an almost must-win game for the Rockies. They played with a lot of heart, but they lost. That forces an absolutely must-win victory upon them on Saturday. This Series will probably not come back to Boston. If it does, I pray that Okajima is on the hill by the seventh. He and Papelbon are the MVP’s this year. Yes, they can’t do it without Beckett, who should win the Cy Young and take his place among the greats, but its the bullpen that separates the Red Sox from everyone else. The tough part is, I like the Rockies, just like I would have rooted for Cleveland had they won. But if there’s any justice in this corrupt world, the Red Sox will win, because they are the better team. You can say all you want about the Sox’s payroll. But money doesn’t buy a pickoff by Paps to end the eighth, and neither does it buy a 5’7 170 pound rookie to win game seven. The Red Sox are playing like they deserve this Series, and I’m behind them all the way.

Think we can start a petition to re-sign Mike Lowell? And Schilling, just for his post season heroics.

What I love about this years great post season run is that, since ’04, I don’t have that feeling of impending doom hanging over my head. No more curse, like the sword of Damocles waiting to drop and ruin our fun. It really makes a difference. It makes me feel very relaxed and I can enjoy the ups and downs of the games without thinking,”Uh oh, now the bad stuff starts happening.” Thank you to all the ’04 Red Sox!

Wow, what a great performance by Schilling, Okajima and Papelbon…and Terry Francona. All you posters who deride Francona with childish names (you know who you are, smckinny and rayman) need to offer the kudos than Francona deserves. We have all criticized Francona for leaving in starting pitchers for a batter or an inning too long (though most of us have done so in a mature manner without resorting to elementary school-like names), so we should all give him credit for bringing in Okajima and Papelbon when he did. He has done an exceptional job of managing in the post-season.

I agree about Schilling, Arnie, and I have always advocated the resigning of Lowell. I also think Francona should be given a two or three-year extension. Schilling has proven that he can win as a finesse pitcher, and since there is next to nothing worthwhile on the free agent market, signing Schilling to join Beckett, Matsuzaka, Buchholz and Lester would be a wise move. Not so sure about Wakefield, and yes, I do realize he won 17 games this year. I’m not ready for the Hot Stove League just yet. I’m hoping for two more win…just two more victories!

Jeff – As an add on to your point, a lot of credit has to go to him (I believe he was the biggest influence) in calling to have Okajima shut down towards the end of the regular season. While a lot of people were in panic mode that we would lose the division, he made the right call for the post season, which was having a fresh Okajima. There is no doubt in my mind that if that had not been done, Okajima would be nowhere near as effective (and so we might not have won tonight’s game). Well done FranCONA (that’s coNa – with an N)

Arnie, I couldn’t have agreed with you any more than that. Thanks to the 2004 Red Sox, there isn’t that feeling of impending doom in the playoffs.

Perhaps us freaking out about the Yankees catching us during the regular season, but no post-season jitters.

I love the whole free taco thing now; did anybody else see the thing they showed on Fox where Royce Clayton is talking to Jacoby Ellsbury about how he should steal a base and get tacos for everybody?

And then he goes out and actually does it!

About Dice-K, gsm52 brings up a good point: he seems to have gotten slightly better in his consecutive post-season starts. So here’s to hoping he goes 6 with not too much damage that we can hit ourselves out of.

For all those making a big deal about who should play first base (and I’m talking to the sports radio talk show hosts and various analysts), if Youk sits and the Red Sox get through the games without an Ortiz gaffe at first base, that means Youk gets inserted at first base as defensive AND offensive maneuver.

So I don’t think it’ll be a big deal.

Oh and Arnie, start that petition for Lowell! If not then I’ll start one after I get back from work tomorrow.

Raj, if you start a site http://www.resignmikelowell.com (much like the site http://www.startjacoby.com) and place an online petition to sign, I will promote it on Sox and Pinstripes. I cannot envision the Sox not offering Lowell a three-year deal. He is only 34, and third basemen are still productive at 37, which would be the end of that contract. To win a World Series, you gotta have the right mixture of youth and veterans. And you gotta have a team, and not a collection of players. Surely, Theo Epstein will not turn this team into the New York Yankees. That would be a grave mistake.

The next few games are tough. The Sox have weaker starters. Dice-K still has a pitch count problem and that’s a LOT of pressure on Lester. Fortunately Beckett is behind him. Last night was a nailbiter. Everyone was in the groove but the bats were starving. Colorado is a great team. I’m amazed the Sox won. Now however is Colorado and that will be tough — very tough.

Okajima was awesome and unequivocally deserved the Fox’s Player of the Game. Jeff thinks that the honor should be shared by Schil, Oki, and Paps. I’d add Lowell as well.
Ellsbury led off the 8th with a single, it was unnecessary for Lugo to bunt to waste an out at that time, I would have Ellsbury steal second and move him to third with an out.

Fortunately the Ellsbury run did not affect the outcome of the game one way or the other.

Dave: You are right — I would hope no SOX fan would ever take a 2-0 lead or even a 3-0 lead for granted, given the SOX post season history proving repeatedly such deficits can be overcome, and especially against a team that won 21-22 and swept their division series, so once the Rockies start winning, they can stay on a roll.

Fortunately, the SOX are too wise to fall into that trap — they keep it one game at a time. Pap seems a little cocky in his interviews — only player that has that tone — I worry about that a bit, hope it doesn’t cost him, but then again, some would argue that a closer has to have that mentality (I don’t do subscribe to that) — but I can cut him a little slack, because perhaps that is way he tries to keep his confidence up.

This is tougher opponent so far than STL was in 04.

That was great win last night — first victory that was won wire to wire in the post season this year.

The SOX are bringing their A-Game to this series — that’s all you can really ask — they will be really tough to beat.

I heard that the players had a closed door meeting(no coaches, staff etc) Word is that they brought up 2004 and also that they are playing these games not 1 inning at a time, but 1 pitch at time. Great way to go, I think!

jeff. you need to read b-4 you type. if you did you’d see i’ve had nothing but praise for tito in the post season. you know for a guy who apparently makes his living as a writer and who, i’m guessing, is a strong believer in the 1st amendment you sure do have a holier than thou attitude when it comes to how people express themselves. i’m guessing if you wrote an article and it offended some people with its content you wouldn’t retract it or apologize for it. when he deserves, IMO, to be called franCOMA. i do it. just like when my best friend deserves to be called an a$$hole i call him one. hasn’t happended lately. in either case thankfully.

Francona made the “right” move because it didn’t come back to haunt him. For example #1, Francona brought in Okajima to face a right hand hitting Aikens with 2 on. What if Oki gave up a hit and the game tied and worse? Would Francona be second guessed for not bringing in Timlin?
Example #2, Ellsbury led off with a single in the 6th, Lugo was asked to lay down a sacrifice bunt and waste an out. The Sox didn’t score. Ellsbury could easily steal second with no out. What if the Rockies came back and tied the game and the Sox lost in extra inning?

Having said that, I still believe that Francona did a reasonably good job in the postseason.

007 – You’re exactly right. Managerial moves are good if they work and if they don’t, well then the manager is a ***** who made a decision that no sane person would ever have made.

There were so many times during the season that Tito made decisions where I could not understand his rationale. The one I still don’t understand is the one on Bucholz. However, he’s got the Sox to 2-0 in the World Series, so what can you say?

I keep seeing and hearing how going to Denver is going to make for completely different games. Blah, blah, blah. It all comes down to pitching, timely hitting, and making plays, and the team that does those things best wins, it’s that simple. Advantage Rockies because of no DH? That’s BS. Of course losing Papi or Youk hurts. But Dice-K, Lester, Beckett get to pitch to an opposing pitcher and the Sox have Youk or Papi coming off the bench. The odds are even, and the team that plays best wins.

gsm, Ortiz is an adequate first baseman so was Buckner a GOOD first baseman. The question is Big Papi’s mobility with a bad knee. I would leave Youk at first and let Papi comig off the bench to pinch hit in a key situation. Anyway, I have no big problem with either Youk or Papi, if he thinks he can do it, at first base.

The Bucholtz situation wasn’t a Francona descion. That was an organazational descion. I don’t agree with it but they have there thoughts on how they should handle a young arm. Of course they can win it all without Bucholtz but he certainly would look good on the roster and helping them win it all. My confidence with Lopez, Gagne and Snyder are way down. It is uh oh time when they come in.

Denver will be a tough place to play. I still think Boston will take it in 6 games.

The lineup is a little thinner without the D.H.

I assume Lowell, Youkilis and Ortiz will all miss 1 start. Youkilis will probably have 1 game where he starts at thirdbase. I do agree with you gsm about Ortiz at 1b, he isn’t as bad as the critics say. He will not embarass himself at 1b over the weekend.

I’m a little worried about Dice-K and Lester going in consecutive games. The pen by Sunday night could be a little worn. Dice-K will probably go 5 innings and no more than 6 innings. Lester is a total unknown, he hasn’t started a game in a long time. Has hardly pitched in the playoffs.

2 more wins and the Red Sox have won it all AGAIN!!! How sweet it is!!!

Then again, I thought it was going to take 6-8 runs to win with Schilling on the mound, and it only took two, so that should shut me up.

But with Dice-K and Lester consecutively, it really seams like we will need at least 1.5 pitchers to fulfil the starting pitcher innings over these two games, and Bucholtz would have been great to fulfill that role.

However, perhaps one of Francona’s greatest attributes is his ability to get people ready to rise to the occasion — who knows maybe even Gagne is ready now, but I don’t think anyone wants to test that now — so maybe Synder can answer the call — if it comes.

Also, looking back to the Cleveland series, where Betancourt shut everyone down in the post season, including us, until game 7 — I hope we don’t have to use Oki too much, so the Rocks aren’t seeing him so much, and figure him out eventually, — so far he has been incredible.

Move Dustin to short (he probably remembers how) — move Youk to second — he can play anywhere — Papi to first.

Three guys not playing their regular positions, but hey, you get Lugo’s bat out of the rotation and keep Papi, Youk, and Lugo in !!!

How can I e-mail Francona — LOL! He needs to do this !! Not much difference between the pitcher’s bat and Lugo’s — sorry I just couldn’t hold back that comment — I do hope Lugo comes through once WHEN IT MATTERS, but minimally, no more errors!

bosox. actually bucholz was a francona decision. theo was quoted as saying he wanted him on the post season roster. or was leaning that way and tito talked him out of it. not saying he didn’t have a valid reason. although the one given was pretty lame.

I disagree with you when you say it was a Francona descion. How could it be? The organazation came out and said Bucholtz has shoulder fatigue? I didn’t know Francona is playing doctor. It was definetly an organazation philosphy to shutdown Bucholtz for the remainder of the season so they came out with a lame excuse and said Bucholtz is suffering from shoulder fatigue. If he really was, the front office would be very nervous about there #1 pitching prospect. He reached his number of innings for the year so they decided to shut him down. He only had 3 appearances in the month of September. They just didn’t want him to go pass that magic number. I don’t agree but welcome to the 21st century. It all comes down to $$$$$.

Why would you make all those moves? That makes ZERO sense to me. Youkilis to 2b? Pedroia who has played a great second and now your going to move him to s.s?

I do agree with you about Ortiz at 1b late in the game if Boston has a lead. You put your best defensive team on the field when protecting a lead, especially this time of year. 2 wins away from the prize everyone is chasing since February.

bosox. i’m telling you he was quoted on espn as saying he was leaning towards keeping buch on the post season roster and tito talked him out of it. i’m not saying he couldn’t have put his foot down if he really wanted to but that’s what the man said. obviuously it wasn’t totally tito’s deal but his opinion is the one they went with. and how does $$$ have anything to do with it?

While things turned out well-Francona should have pulled Schilling one batter earlier so that Okejima would be facing the lefthanded batter.Lugo should have waited for Ellsbury to steal to bunt him over to third with one out. Since everything worked out well- that’s water under the bridge.
When Dice-K starts in game 3 I would not let him go more than 4 innings unless the Sox are 5 or 6 runs ahead.I would get the next pitcher(s) warming up in the third inning and not wait for Dice-K to get into trouble. Francona shouldn’t wait to get his bullpen up early. This is the World Series and everyone should be ready to go in.Francona’s waiting to pull pitchers during the regular season cost the Sox some games. Let’s hope he learned his lesson- he did that with Schilling but waited one batter too long.Thank God it worked out well.

Last night, we had dinner, settled in to watch the game. Then before you know it were down 1-0. It was only then that I realized I had forgotten to light my candles!!! Me!!! I promptly lit them and before you know it we’ve got the lead!!! Big, bad, blonde moment for your truly!! I almost blew it for us!

Don’t get me started about Bill Buckner, but for a reason that is opposite of what is typical. Buckner was one of the best defensive first basemen of his era, and his numbers and longevity are deserving of Hall of Fame consideration. The error was not his fault. The guy’s back was so damaged that he could not fully bend down. He should have never been on the field. John McNamara should have been given that error. Yet, like the Yankees 26 World Series titles, that is history. The Sox have established themselves as the most formidable franchise in Major League Baseball, and two more wins will make Terry Francona without question the most successful manager this team has seen in the modern era.

One more thing. at this point of the season – especially on the grand stage of the World Series – it makes no sense to move players around. The only exception is Youkilis playing third, since he is accustomed to that position. I think that Francona should stick to sitting Ortiz, Youkilis and Lowell one game each, and replacing Ortiz with Youkilis in the sixth or seventh inning in the games Ortiz plays if the Sox have the lead. Right now, you don’t lose much with Youkilis at the plate instead of Ortiz. And having Ortiz available as a pinch-hitter is a huge plus.

My moves to put Pedroia at short, Youk at second, Papi at first was 95% joke, 5% serious — but the more I think about it, the more I might actually do it (if the players were versatile enough) — the reason is to keep all the hot bats in the lineup.

Lugo has been playing pretty good short lately, but his error and failure to turn the double play in game 7 of the ALCS almost cost us this opportunity. He has brought very little offensively all post season and nearly all year in clutch situations (just a few exceptions, maybe there is one coming in the WS). If Pedroia and Youk were versatile enough, I think I would do it.

Lugo’s bat is mostly a liability right now – the only game in this post season I can remember him getting a hit was the 13-2 blowout, and then it didn’t really matter. And his defense, I hope he continues to play clean ball for two more wins.

I actually like Pangelotti’s idea to pitch Dice-K only 4 innings. He seems to really hit the wall somewhere between inning 4 and 6 and usually more than once in those innings.

But it will never happen, can you imagine the objections from Japan, if Francona pulled Dice-K before he could record a win AND before he showed any signs of weakness (hypothetically) and then what if the replacement faltered — major egg on face on that point.

Francona will surely have a very short lease, but wait for the first signs — which is probably the right thing to do.

Francona must have infinite patience, he shows it with his players all year, and then you just know that all these criticisms we blab about all year, he has thought about well in advance. I don’t know why I didn’t realize consciously that he has thought everyone of these scenarios through before hand with his staff and on his own — and since he is the manager, he picks what he thinks is best and says I am succeeding (or failing) on my belief on what is best and right — I am not going down on someone else’s or fan/public pressure, and know-it-all reporters and bloggers :)

You got to admire that. At first I vehemently disagreed with many of his tactical moves throughout the year, I am sure I that very few would have shown near the faith and support in the players that he has all year — and where would the SOW be now — with that doubt in their minds (even if we had won earlier games by other means, which mean nothing now). I think I have begun to understand the Francona way — he really does get the best out of players and builds their confidence in so doing. He is alot better manager than he gets credit for.

And he can make tactical moves when the clock is out — last night game, and benching Coco — that had to be an extremely difficult decision for him. I hope Coco gets a chance to really contribute, he has worked to hard, and stuck with all year, despite his struggles — somehow I think he will have his moment. But the team goal has to come first, and Francona does about as good as job as humanly possible in balancing these two in the post season.

When one asks how soon to pull Dice-K,after the 4th inning,would be dependent on the score of the game. If we are reasonably ahead 5 or 6 runs, I would leave him in until more than one batter gets on base. If the game is closer than that i.e.,less than 3 runs I would pull him if he is constantly behind batters or is unable to get them out with two strikes, I would pull him at the end of 4. In any case, I would be starting to warm up my relief my pitchers at the end of three.I repeat, don’t start warming them up when he appears to be getting into trouble. The leash that Francona has on him should be more akin to a choke (forgive the pun)collar.

Jeff, I agree with your points on Buckner. He wasn’t responsible for the Sox’ losing that series. Let’s see, there was a 7th game wasn’t there? …. and it never should have gotten to the point where Buckner even had a chance to make that play. Little pitching dilemma that day too.

I also agree with you that the fewer moves you make, the better off you are. I don’t think you disrupt the whole infield to solve the Papi issue. All things being equal, I think Papi has to play, but you don’t put Youk at third when you have the best guy in history manning that position.

You enter the game thinking Dice-K is going to give you seven good innings. He is certainly capable of that and I think if he could handle game 7 pressure in the ALCS, this should be a piece of cake. Sox are up 2-0, he’s under no pressure. I look for him to have a good game. He has been getting better and I see his confidence higher now than before his last start, and he did OK then. I think Tek is the key more than Dice-K. Dice-K has good stuff and he doesn’t need to be too fine. Strikes, strikes, and more strikes. If he gets hit, so be it.

I say $$$ has to do with it because Bucholtz is a investment. Francona had nothing to do with Bucholtz being shutdown. As I said earlier it was an orgazational descion, they didn’t want him too log to many innings in 2007. That is how the Red Sox want to handle there young arms. They don’t want too see a Kerry Wood or Mark Priror, those 2 got burnt out early.

dgn: I saw you on Tina’s blog. I emailed lauriel and invited her to join us here at Brownie points. I have to say that while we have our internal squabbles we are usually more polite than other blog sites. I like that. What I’m not sure I like is Youk sitting out tonight, but it’s a conundrum any way you look at it. But while I’m sure it was a difficult decision for Tito, Kevin is a team guy and will handle it with dignity. Anyway,GO SOX!!!

Ellen — yea, its a pretty tough call, I think I would have gone with Youk and Lowell myself, because Manny is pretty hot, and we did well all year in inter-league play without Ortiz, but Francona’s judgment has been working well so far this series.

I hate to be a bad fan, but I am really think tonight is going to be very tough – I don’t have any nails left, and the game hasn’t even started!

I am hoping to get 1 on three, but our best chance to win the series, I think, is to do it at Coors field, and take 2 of three.

We barely squeeked by beat Jiminez in game 2 — if it comes back to Boston — its Schill against Jiminez again, and then Dice-K against the Dragon-Slayer (same risk as the ACLS)– hope we can get it done in the mountains.

Advance weather report from the Denver area.
As of 10:00 AM it was 40 degrees on a gloomy day. We had a misty sort of rain last night and the air is a little humid. Unusual for here, well not the cold, but the humidity. I can’t see the mountains from my house, they are obscured by cloud cover.

All in all, it could be good weather. While I feel for the guys from warm climates I think the heavy air could help Dice-K with his breaking pitches. Of course it will help Josh Fogg too, but it evens the playing field a little if it negates the “mile high” mystique a bit.

Personally, I wouldn’t want to play baseball in this weather. Must be getting old.

I have full confidence in our team. They have been through the wars, they know what it’s like to be down, backs against the wall. This is relatively new territory for the Rockies. They went on that ridiculous tear to get to the WS but now that they have come back to earth can they get their mojo back in time? My vote goes to the Sox.

dgneubert– I wish I could. I’d be glad to work with the Sox as a consultant i.e., no salary but just travel expenses, I’m sure I would have had a positive effect and probably helped them win a few games that they lost during the season. Also, I would be objective in my suggestions and leave the emotional interaction with the players up to Tito.When he has a hard decision to make e.g., Ortiz or Youk, he could always blame me.

i agree that tonite will be a tough one. there will prob be a great deal of adrenaline going for colo in their first series home game. i thought they actually hit some balls pretty hard the first 2 games. just usually right at somebody. hopefully dice can keep it manageable again and give them 6 solid.

gsm. i think that’s the whole key to dice’s success or lack of as the case may be at times. make them hit their way on. don’t give it to them with free passes by trying to nibble and make them chase early in the count. tomorrow nights game should be really intersting. lester hasn’t pitched a great deal lately and cook hasn’t pitched in 3 mos.

I still say NESN playing the Pirates of the Caribbean theme song all through the series — gives us an edge :), it compliments Ellen’s candles nicely, soliciting help on both ends of the good/evil spectrum – LOL — here we go!

IF you really want to start a web-site, its really easy, but it costs about $10-25 to register the url, and then you can buy a simple website for about $8/month from various providers, I have used Yahoo, but there may even be others that are cheaper.

You can go to GoDaddy or Register.com to register the url, like keepmikelowell.com and then use them or Yahoo to build a simple web site, they have lots of starting templates on all of these sites.

Some of you may know better, but I did it in about one an afternoon for one of a test site, although it was purely informational, I did not have to record names, etc. so this will be a little more work, but not much, still someone has to do it.

I don’t think the website is going to influence SOX management at all — so in my opinion, its not worth it — I think they know what Lowell has meant to us this year, but they still will assess a value to him (by their formulas) and either resign him — if they can keep him for that value or better, or let him go if they cannot or they think they can get better value elsewhere.

Their equations have surely backfired at the short stop positions — I certainly hope they don’t tinker away the 3rd base position now.

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